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I envy Indian cricket – they had Tendulkar!
December 26, 2012
"He went on to score a 50 in the fourth Test in Sialkot and that is when we realised that this man was a special, special talent.” PHOTO: REUTERS
The man has retired. The 49-centuries hero has finally bid adieu to an illustrious 23-year-old career that changed the very definition of Indian batting.
Words fail when you attempt to glorify this cricketing legend. You turn to numbers instead. If 18,426 runs at an incredible average of 44:83 in 463 matches with a record 49 centuries and 96 staggering 50s don’t tell you the story, nothing ever will. Sachin Tendulkar was indeed in a league of his own.
Thank you, little master. Thank you for the memories.
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/wp-conte...36-640x480.jpg
Spoken enough from the mind; here’s what the heart thinks:
Sachin was a great batsman. I envy him. In fact, I envy the whole of India because he represented and scored all those runs for them. I envy him, because if Pakistan had someone of his calibre and class, we would have been a different force today. As much as I hate to admit this, the reality is that Pakistan was a ‘Tendulkar’ away from glory – the glory and success that deserted us throughout the last ten years in one-day cricket.
In 2003, Saeed Anwar retired. He was Pakistan’s run machine, someone who was considered this country’s answer to Tendulkar. It’s been almost 10 years now and believe it or not, we are yet to find an able replacement, an opener extraordinaire, who could tear apart bowling attacks and pile on the runs.
That’s when you realise how Pakistan could have done with a Tendulkar up top. How Pakistani bowlers who more often than not succeeded in restricting the oppositions to mediocre first-inning totals would have loved someone like a Tendulkar to score those runs and avoid the hiccups (read: Pakistan batting’s infamous chasing blues) that earned them the ‘unpredictables’ tag.
When was the last time you saw a Pakistani opener go on a lengthy streak playing with consistency, confidence, flamboyance and flair like Tendulkar?
From the Wastis to the Nazirs, from the Afridis to the Akmals, we’ve seen a whole host of names come and go. But no one, no one was even remotely close to Tendulkar. The harsh reality is that we just couldn’t produce one.
Furthermore, I get atrociously envious thinking about what could have been if we had a Tendulkar playing for us in the 1999 World Cup final or in the disastrous 2003 and 2007 World Cups. My blood boils when I hear that tone of uncertainty in the voice of commentators when we’re chasing a low total. That’s the reputation we have built during the past ten years. A reputation that has developed because of the absence of a Tendulkar.
This also reminds me of the popular argument that most Pakistani fans, including myself, present about all those centuries that Tendulkar scored.
We say:
“Whenever Sachin gets a 100, India lose.”
Oh, who are we kidding?
How does that undermine the misery he piled up on opposition teams?
How was it his fault that the Indian bowlers were not good enough to clean up or restrict the opposition batsmen?
That’s when you think what a wonderful match Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan would have made. A match truly made in heaven.
Sachin’s master class supported by Pakistan’s plethora of bowling talent – it’s the stuff dreams are made of. So don’t blame me for being envious that we weren’t blessed with him.
I speak here as a disgruntled Pakistani fan, who respects Tendulkar from the bottom of his heart, for what he has achieved in the sport, but also hates him with equal intensity for scoring all those runs for our arch-rivals.
I’m envious because Pakistan was indeed a Tendulkar away from glory through all these years.
Wasim Akram, arguably one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, had this to say about Tendulkar upon his retirement:
“Sachin was really 16 at the time when he came to Pakistan in 1989 and Waqar and I thought, ‘What will this 16-year-old do against us?’ I hit him in his face but he still showed a lot of gumption and courage and went on to score a 50 in the fourth Test in Sialkot and that is when we realised that this man was a special, special talent.”
Exactly, Wasim bhai, exactly!
Read more by Emad here, or follow him on Twitter @EmadZafar
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/15...had-tendulkar/
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What made Tendulkar first among equals
Dileep Premachandran · Bangalore · Dec 23, 2012
When discussing Sachin Tendulkar, the one-day batsman, the numbers have little meaning. They just intimidate and overwhelm.
Nearly four years into his One-Day International career, Sachin Tendulkar had played 60 innings. He averaged 30.86 and had made 12 half-centuries, with a highest of 84. There were mitigating factors, the main one being that he batted lower down the order, but any way you looked at it, those were ordinary numbers.
They paled into insignificance next to what he had already achieved in the Test arena. He wasn't yet 21, but had scored hundreds in England, Australia (twice), South Africa, India and Sri Lanka. The Bradman comparisons had already begun.
In coloured clothes though, India's Test Superman was a journeyman, someone whose breathtaking ability shone through all too rarely. To put those numbers after 60 innings into perspective, consider this. Hashim Amla, at the same stage of his career, has nearly twice as many runs at an average of 59.55. He's made ten hundreds and 19 half-centuries. That is greatness. Tendulkar wasn't even close.
Then, Eden Park happened. Opening the batting did for Tendulkar what the druid's magic potion did for Asterix. In the years that followed, he didn't just break one-day records. He obliterated them.
If he retires from Test cricket tomorrow, the body of work that he leaves behind will be hugely significant. But it's not incomparable. You can think of around 20 batsmen, modern and from the game's back pages, who could replicate the quality and consistency of his performances.
In one-day cricket, there is no such comparison. There is Tendulkar, daylight, and then some more daylight. Of those still playing the game today, Chris Gayle tops the hundreds chart with 20. Tendulkar finished with 49, despite his focus solely being on World Cup glory since January 2010. Either side of those nine World Cup matches in 2011, he played just 14 times in three years.
When discussing Tendulkar the one-day batsman, the numbers have little meaning. They just intimidate and overwhelm. What is worth talking about is the manner in which he constantly reinvented himself. There's little doubt that, as with the boxing great Muhammad Ali, watching him was a more visceral and thrilling experience in the first half of his career. The two Desert Storm innings in 1998 were the Tendulkar equivalent of Ali outclassing Cleveland Williams the athlete at the peak of his powers as the irresistible force.
But it's not the destruction of Williams that Ali is most remembered for. It's for the trilogy with Joe Frazier, and the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman. All those fights took place when he was either approaching 30 or past it, after he had experienced pain and disappointment and even defeat after the illusions of invincibility had been shattered.
In the same way, Tendulkar's finest one-day innings were probably played once he had had to familiarise himself with the idea of struggle. As the years passed, he understood one-day batting in a way that few others did. Few played the percentages better, or knew their strengths and weaknesses as well. There were times when he could bring to mind the teenager who had discovered the cheat codes to a video game.
Sadly, when people talk of him, the hype often overshadows the substance. Take the 98 against Pakistan at Centurion during the 2003 World Cup. Almost always, the discussions are about that six over third man. Great shot, yes, but there was enough width there for a top batsman to take advantage of. The stroke that really deflated the Pakistan fielders and the fans watching on TV came later in the over.
Back of a length from Shoaib Akhtar, and no more than an apologetic push from Tendulkar. The ball sped past the mid-on fielder and teased him all the way to the rope. If anyone ever asks you to think of a shot that exemplified Tendulkar the limited-overs batsman, it should be that.
The greatest tribute to Tendulkar hasn't come in the form of words or gestures or awards. It's come from the batting of Virat Kohli. He may still be finding his way in Test cricket, but Kohli the one-day bat is well on the way to being a master. And the similarities with Tendulkar are unmistakable.
The latter-day Tendulkar played in his own bubble, aware that he knew the permutations and combinations better than anyone else. In the World Cup game against England last year, he took 43 deliveries to ease to 24. The trigger fingers in press boxes and on social-networking sites had already been given a workout. Off the next 60 balls he faced, he scored 78 runs. There were few strokes he didn't play. Kohli, possibly having observed that, also marches to his own beat.
The 49 centuries will be mentioned countless times, especially the 200 against Dale Steyn and friends when he was nearly 37. But like the Centurion innings, some of his finest never saw him raise the bat for three figures. There was a 90 against Australia in front of his home crowd during the 1996 World Cup, and a 95 against Pakistan in Lahore in 2006, less than a fortnight after newspapers had led with Tendulkar headlines.
We spoke at length about that Lahore innings a few months later. Mohammad Asif bowled a dream spell that night under lights, getting movement in the air and off the pitch. Rahul Dravid, whose mastery of the defensive arts is beyond dispute, was moved this way and that like a marionette on a string.
Tendulkar's judgment was incredible. It wasn't the shots he played, so much as the one he didn't. He'd watched the ball like a hawk out of Asif's hand, he told me. But on occasion, he'd also needed to cover the movement off the seam. Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni saw India home that night, but it was Tendulkar's 95 that was instrumental in setting up the game.
You could sense his excitement when he spoke of that Asif spell, just as you could see the animation on his face when he spoke of Warne and McGrath and Steyn. It's perhaps fitting that his last great one-day innings came in Nagpur, against South Africa on a day when a fired-up Steyn turned out to be the match-winner. As long as Tendulkar was out there, batting appeared all too easy. Once he was dismissed, Steyn ran amok.
Most of all though, we should recall Tendulkar's urge to push on, the endeavour to improve no matter what the circumstances.
He'Íl obviously be remembered for the records, many of which will never be surpassed. Most of all though, we should recall that urge to push on, the endeavour to improve no matter what the circumstances. R Kaushik, my colleague, and I often talk of a net session at Centurion at the end of a one-day series (2006) in which India had been comprehensively outclassed. It took us a while to figure out what was happening.
Ian Frazer, Greg Chappell's assistant, was giving throwdowns from 10 yards. Before each ball, he would yell out a name 'Pollock' 'Ntini' 'Nel' and the angle and trajectory of the throw would change accordingly. India lost miserably the following day, but Tendulkar made 55 not pretty, but workmanlike and bereft of exceptional highlights.
That innings, towards the end of one of the worst years of his career, was also a wonderful illustration of his greatness. He chased excellence, and fleetingly managed to grasp perfection.
http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-a...r-equals/41598
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Sachin retires
LINK
Wasim and Waqar recall Sachin's best ODI inning against them
'Shoaib came up to me and said he would not bowl the next over'
Pakistan's greatest pace duo, Waqar and Wasim rate Tendulkar's 98 at the Centurion in 2003 as the best they have seen
Shahid Hashmi
Posted On Monday, December 24, 2012
I and Sachin Tendulkar made our Test debuts in the same game. I have very vivid memories of that match. That first Test started a memorable rivalry between me and him. We shared some great moments off the field.
Although Sachin has played some memorable innings against us but the knock which stands out in my memory is the one he played at Centurion during the 2003 World Cup. It was an exhilarating and dominating knock that threw us out of the World Cup. I was not only the bowling spearhead of the team but also its captain. Before the match our focus was around Tendulkar.
We were all talking about the ways to get the master batsman out. If I remember correctly, Tendulkar was in good form at that time, having scored a 100 and a 50 in the previous two matches. Batting first we managed 270-odd runs with Saeed Anwar hitting a fighting hundred. We thought it was a defendable total.
But the way Tendulkar started the innings, we were just blown away. He hit a boundary off Wasim Akram in the first over and then went berserk against Shoaib Akhtar. He hit a six and two boundaries off Shoaib Akhtar. The maverick batsman left Akhtar shattered. Those were such ruthless shots that Shoaib came up to me after that over and said that he would not bowl the next over.
I was surprised to hear that and didn't believe my ears. After just one over I had to change and came onto bowl at Tendulkar. But I too was meted out the same treatment. He hit me for two fours and a six and India were cruising along nicely. We came close to getting him out off Wasim Akram but Abdul Razzaq failed to judge a head-high catch at mid-on and we spurned that chance. I still remember Wasim was very furious at Razzaq.
He was ultimately dismissed by Shoaib for 98 and those runs came off just 70-odd balls. He in fact took the game away from us and although we managed a few wickets in between, the great man had set the platform for awin. I just can't forget that knock. Sachin was at his ruthless best. It's sad that Sachin has called quits on his oneday career. He had to take a decision and I feel happy that he has taken it at an appropriate time.
Wasim Akram : Singling out any one knock by Sachin is very difficult but one of the best was his 90-plus at Centurion during the 2003 World Cup. He punished all the bowlers especially Shoaib Akhtar.
Shoaib and I opened the bowling and I think India raced to 50 in just four-five overs. He hit a brilliant six off Shoaib which went over point and we were amazed at his hitting. Shoaib was so shocked that he asked the captain to change him. I still remember that all of us were sneering at him.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/....html?pageno=1
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The man who stands alone
Sachin waves goodbye to ODIs
Sachin Tendulkar ranks among four or five of the greatest batsmen to have played Test cricket. But in the one-day game, from which he retired on Sunday, he stands alone. Tendulkar might dispute the point himself, arguing that his idol, Sir Vivian Richards, was at least as great. Indeed the combination of Richard's average (47) and strike-rate (90.20) is marginally superior, Tendulkar's corresponding figures being 44.83 and 86.23. But the Indian did it for significantly longer, over a span of 463 matches, to the West Indian's 187.
Longevity is the most demanding test of greatness, for nothing escapes inquiry. And no one has succeeded at this test quite like Tendulkar. Curiously, the great man didn't take to the one-day format as readily as he did to Test cricket: between 1989 and early 1994, when he batted in the middle-order, he averaged just over 31, his runs coming at the rate of 74 every 100 balls. It needed an accident incumbent opener Navjot Singh Sidhu suffered a stiff neck in Auckland in March 1994 to set a phenomenon in motion. Having convinced the team management that he should open, Tendulkar blitzed a match-winning 82 off just 49 balls. Neither he nor the one-day game was the same in India from that moment; the star and his stage were etched even deeper than before in the nation's collective consciousness.
Tendulkar's finest achievement was his finessing of one-day batting into a self-contained art form. Before him, there were, broadly, those who batted much like they did in Test cricket and those who had a 'slog'. Richards, Javed Miandad, and Dean Jones were exceptions; they introduced to their run-making, shades of pace a quality that was seen in their Test play as well, but was employed more proactively in ODIs.
Tendulkar expanded this quality and reinvented it constantly. In this way, he defied definition: during the course of an innings, he was several Tendulkars in one. He didn't begin the trend of hitting the new ball over the top of the infield, but he adapted it in a manner that hadn't been seen till then. He became a master at ticking it over in the middle overs, conserving energy for an onslaught in the final stages. But his genius lay in the nuance within this apparent template of Á¢ttack, Consolidate, Attack? he had great feel for an innings rhythm and the priceless ability to change it almost at will. Thus did he make 49 one-day centuries, one of them the game's first double when he was very nearly 37. But runs to Tendulkar were only ever a means to winning. Little wonder that the World Cup triumph in 2011 is his most cherished one-day memory. Perhaps he should have retired from the format then; but the period since won't tarnish a one-day career that appears impossible to surpass.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/edit...cle4235870.ece
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December 24, 2012
Tendulkar: a consummate professional
VIJAY LOKAPALLY
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/d...N_1308173f.jpg
That flick would be missed; the delicately placed shot off the pads, the trademark straight-drive with the manufacturer’s logo so visible; the punch to cover; it will all be missed.
His innings in a one-day international was a highlights package. If the partner happened to be Virender Sehwag, it was double delight because they would compete with each other in decimating the opposition. More than anyone, Sehwag will miss his partner.
True, Sachin is so meticulous when it comes to preparing for a Test match. His routine has remained the same, right from sleeping early, or at least trying to sleep early, and having breakfast in his room during match days.
Sachin Tendulkar: Numbers to remember (pdf)
Fastidious
But he has also been equally fastidious ahead of an ODI. His unmistakable shadow practice on the pitch was a moment the ground staff dreaded. Sachin’s eyes would wander off the pitch and into the galleries behind the stumps.
Why would anyone look beyond the pitch and into the stands? The ground staff would hold its breath. The focus would be on the sightscreens. The size mattered and it mattered most to Sachin. Many a time he would suggest, sometimes in an irritated tone, that the sightscreen be moved or the size improved. He did it for years and did it without fail. Once the sightscreen was adjusted to his demand, the ground staff would return to other work. It was a routine we also observed for years.
Sachin made every effort to earn his place on merit. Forget if he prolonged his exit from the one-day stage. For a man who told himself not to play the square cut without getting his eye in, he would slam the first ball of the ODI with a horizontal bat. He believed in innovation and adapting to the task. It came naturally to him, not for others.
T20 not his cup of tea
He never relished T20. It was crude cricket. The IPL was an aberration and a distraction too. In heart of heart, he would wish not to be part of the IPL. But one-day cricket presented him an opportunity to stay in touch with the latest trend. He would spend hours, having animated discussions with even the newest face in the team.
He always wanted to learn the new tricks. Such was his enthusiasm that he would emerge from the ‘nets’ and check if he had got that ‘slog’ right. He remained an eternal student of the game.
Not a sudden decision
The decision to say good bye to one-day cricket was not sudden. For some time he had come to realise that the body was not listening to his brain. Fatigued legs and arms at the end of the day were clear indication to Sachin that he had to take the call. Test or one-day cricket, the choice was easy. He had valued Test cricket higher even though his recent form has meant a dent in his reputation.
The timing was as judicious as his shot selection. Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman left the newcomers with enough time to prepare for the battles overseas, just as Sachin. He would not visualise Indian cricket in a struggling mode. Nothing, as he confessed recently, would make him happier than India excelling.
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When Sachin crushed my prediction, writes Ian Chappell
The Australian, who has been Tendulkar's sharpest critic of late, admits how the ODI-retired Tendulkar proved him wrong in 1998
December 24, 2012
MUMBAI
When Sachin crushed my prediction, writes Ian Chappell
The Australian, who has been Tendulkar's sharpest critic of late, admits how the ODI-retired Tendulkar proved him wrong in 1998
It's going to be a gradual goodbye from Sachin Tendulkar, as he's retired from the one-day game, presumably in the hope of prolonging his Test career.
When I reflect on Tendulkar's ODI career it's hard to go past his back-to-back hundreds against Australia in Sharjah in April 1998. With the final of the triangular tournament to be played on the 24th (the day before Anzac Day) and India facing a huge target in the penultimate match just to oust New Zealand from that upcoming encounter, television entrepreneur Mark Mascarenhas asked me who I thought would make the final?
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Deset storm: Sachin Tendulkar in a celebratory mood after beating the Australians at Sharjah in 1998. Pic/MiD DAY Archives
"It'Íl be the Anzacs (Australia and New Zealand) playing on Anzac Day eve, I replied. Tendulkar made a nonsense of that prediction by playing one of his best knocks. He blasted the Australians, scoring at better than a run a ball by attacking at every opportunity. One of his five sixes, a flat pull shot off Michael Kasprowicz disappeared into the stands like a launched missile and his savage assault ensured India reached the target of qualifying for the final.
Spirited
However, true to his competitive spirit Tendulkar continued to play with only one objective in mind; to win the match. In the end he was denied but he took his revenge in the final, again scoring a better than a run-a-ball hundred off the same attack and this time guiding his team to the trophy. It was Tendulkar at his best; in prime form and not about to be denied by any bowler, Shane Warne included.
Undoubtedly his crowning personal moment was becoming the first man to score a double century in an ODI. He'd given warning with a brilliant 175 against Australia in late 2009 only to improve on that by going one better in thrashing a strong South African attack three months later.
While these innings would've given him great personal satisfaction he, not surprisingly, ranked India's World Cup victory in 2011 as his proudest moment. That couldn't have been far ahead of winning the 2008 ODI trophy in Australia where he played two monumental back-to-back innings in the finals series to help crush the home side. Tendulkar didn't choose the World Cup victory in his hometown of Mumbai as the right time to retire. He's now decided to prolong his Test career by reducing his short form cricket to just IPL duties.
This may be a misguided strategy as he's been virtually out of ODI cricket, having not played any for nine months. Tendulkar's gradual withdrawal from cricket is an indication of how difficult it is for him to stop playing a game he loves. It'll have to end sometime, hopefully before he's left it too late.
http://www.mid-day.com/sports/2012/d...n-Chappell.htm
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I believed
AASHISH CHANDORKAR
Note: I wrote this post on Dec 16th based on Twitter rumours about an impending SRT retirement announcement on Dec 17th. A part announcement was made today. We don't know the circumstances and what role selectors message played before the team was announced for the Pak tour. We don't know if selectors will pick him against Australia next year. We may or may not see him play again for India, but this is as good a time as any to say thank you.
It was the summer of 1991. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association had organized a charity match between Sunil Gavaskar XI and Kapil Dev XI, the proceeds of which were to benefit the local cricketers. I had spent a then princely sum of Rs. 25 to secure a ticket to watch the two stalwarts and a host of India stars play the friendly game. One of the several big names to descend on Nehru Stadium, Indore was Sachin Tendulkar. I have no recollection of the role he played in that game.
However, as I was cycling back to my home in an area then at the edge of the city, I saw several white Ambassador cars hurtling down the National Highway 3. There were no sirens or red lights, so they could not have been official government vehicles. I guessed that these were the players rushing to the newly constructed home of Narendra Hirwani, by then an India regular, and already an Indore legend. I cycled furiously to my house, picked my barely used autograph book and went to the said house, which of course was like a pilgrimage spot for cricket fans in Indore. I jumped with joy to see those white cars parked outside and absolutely no one except a regular vegetable vendor making a stopover out of curiosity.
I will of course never forget the next 30 minutes. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Kiran More, M. Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Venkatpathy Raju, Navjyot Singh Siddhu, Chetan Sharma, Pravin Amre, Narendra Hirwani, Sanjay Jagdale they all walked out to get back in those cars. And so did Sachin Tendulkar. Most of them were gracious enough to sign my drenched-with-sweat-after-cycling autograph book, and a few weren't. The 18 year old boy was initially reluctant but after a few requests, did oblige me.
By then, Sachin had already scored his first test century but of course had not done enough to be seen as the next Sunil Gavaskar as the promises went. That of course was every fanÃÔ big concern even 4 years into SMG retirement. I came back home and showed the autographs to my dad. I told him I managed to get the autograph of the guy who will be our next hero. He looked at the SMG one closely and ignored my comment.
By then, I had already converted into believing the legend of the man child.
http://www.thesightscreen.com/wp-con.../Autograph.jpg
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It was March 1994. The school exams had just got over and I was up early morning to watch New Zealand score a modest 142 against India. My dad joined me when India was about to bat, and surprisingly we saw Sachin Tendulkar walk out with Ajay Jadeja to open the innings. The next hour and a half marked a key milestone for the 1990s Indian cricket. By the time Matthew Hart got Sachin out c&b for 82 off 49 deliveries in the chase, several fence-sitting Indian fans were finally convinced they had found the right guy to invest their cricketing equity in.
As Sachin walked off the ground, my dad told me it was good I got his autograph already, for it may be impossible to ever get so close to him. He enquired if I had kept my autograph book safely, which of course I had.
An older generation had gotten over the SMG retirement completely. Another generation believed fully in the legend of a world class player.
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It was March 2010. I had come back in the wee hours of morning after watching Sachin and Harbhajan Singh sink Deccan Chargers at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. I was rudely woken up, all bleary eyed, by my daughter.
She had watched parts of the IPL game hoping her dad will be live on television. While that hope represented the audacity of childhood, she managed to see some of Sachin's batting. She wanted me to explain why I had not taken her to the stadium. "I wanted to see Sachin. Promise me you will take me to a cricket match when he plays in Pune" As I opened my eyes, I realized she was wearing my Mumbai Indians jersey, which I had barely managed to get out of before collapsing in the bed a few hours earlier.
The years had rolled by. A third generation now knew Sachin Tendulkar. A third generation now believed in the legend of a cricketing legend.
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For many days, I marveled over the love, affection and faith, which three generations of my household had put in Sachin Tendulkar. Surely my household was not unique. Millions of other households in the country probably had the same experience over time. But importantly, I represent that intermediate link, the generation which was the first to drink the Kool Aid.
The cricketing upbringing for my generation was modest. Yes, many of us have vague memories of the ODI successes during the 1983-85 period. But mostly, the cricketing stories involved humiliation. At home, when West Indies or England or Pakistan visited. Or away, when we went to West Indies or Pakistan or Australia. There were the scars from Sharjah. There were also the turf wars between the two stalwarts SMG and Kapil. It was humiliation, because each defeat was rinse-repeat outclassed, overshadowed, and bulldozed. Individual moments of brilliance used to come and go away, but there was no sustainable sense of pride for long time periods. As SMG retired and Kapil started to fade, even the individual moments felt like far and few between.
And then came in Sachin.
It wasn't like his arrival coincided with the general upliftment of India's cricket skills. For years together, he was the lone warrior. The team composition continued to surprise even the most devoted of the fans. Cricketers unheard of continued to walk in and out of the national team for years. Only 9-10 years in his international career, India got a team which started to gel and show a result orientation which was so sorely missing for many years at a stretch.
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So the fascination which my generation held, and I presume still does, with Sachin's cricket was principally qualitative. We wanted to win, but we knew that it was largely not possible to win the matches or the occasions we yearned for. The Indian cricket meandered aimlessly in the jungles of international cricket like an adventurer losing way in an expedition. We had a torch, a guiding light, but while it was necessary to have one for any hope of coming out of that situation, it was seldom sufficient.
It was always about searching for positives, whatever the results, and the positives almost always involved Sachin. The opposition was wary of him. His wicket was like the Gateway of India starting where the opposition made inroads. His presence was a psychological boost, a calming down factor, a beacon of hope. Across formats, across countries, across grounds, the chants of SA-CHIN, SACHIN reverberated as a genuine emotional investment in a personal belief.
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Eventually, a Jacques Kallis will score more test centuries than Sachin. Or if he does not, Alastair Cook may do so. Even if he does not, he may end up with more test runs than Sachin. There will be many players who will have talent, character, charm and luck some may have one or more qualities in greater proportion than what Sachin did. This is exactly how evolution works. There may however not be another cricketer, who captures the imagination of multiple generations at one go like Sachin did.
I am sure for me, there will be new cricketing associations. There will be several cricketers of whose success, life and times, I will be a part of. There may however be no one else, who will be a part of me.
In Sachin, I believed.
http://www.thesightscreen.com/post-m...ns/i-believed/
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I believed
AASHISH CHANDORKAR
Note: I wrote this post on Dec 16th based on Twitter rumours about an impending SRT retirement announcement on Dec 17th. A part announcement was made today. We don't know the circumstances and what role selectors message played before the team was announced for the Pak tour. We don't know if selectors will pick him against Australia next year. We may or may not see him play again for India, but this is as good a time as any to say thank you.
It was the summer of 1991. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association had organized a charity match between Sunil Gavaskar XI and Kapil Dev XI, the proceeds of which were to benefit the local cricketers. I had spent a then princely sum of Rs. 25 to secure a ticket to watch the two stalwarts and a host of India stars play the friendly game. One of the several big names to descend on Nehru Stadium, Indore was Sachin Tendulkar. I have no recollection of the role he played in that game.
However, as I was cycling back to my home in an area then at the edge of the city, I saw several white Ambassador cars hurtling down the National Highway 3. There were no sirens or red lights, so they could not have been official government vehicles. I guessed that these were the players rushing to the newly constructed home of Narendra Hirwani, by then an India regular, and already an Indore legend. I cycled furiously to my house, picked my barely used autograph book and went to the said house, which of course was like a pilgrimage spot for cricket fans in Indore. I jumped with joy to see those white cars parked outside and absolutely no one except a regular vegetable vendor making a stopover out of curiosity.
I will of course never forget the next 30 minutes. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Kiran More, M. Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Venkatpathy Raju, Navjyot Singh Siddhu, Chetan Sharma, Pravin Amre, Narendra Hirwani, Sanjay Jagdale they all walked out to get back in those cars. And so did Sachin Tendulkar. Most of them were gracious enough to sign my drenched-with-sweat-after-cycling autograph book, and a few weren't. The 18 year old boy was initially reluctant but after a few requests, did oblige me.
By then, Sachin had already scored his first test century but of course had not done enough to be seen as the next Sunil Gavaskar as the promises went. That of course was every fanÃÔ big concern even 4 years into SMG retirement. I came back home and showed the autographs to my dad. I told him I managed to get the autograph of the guy who will be our next hero. He looked at the SMG one closely and ignored my comment.
By then, I had already converted into believing the legend of the man child.
http://www.thesightscreen.com/wp-con.../Autograph.jpg
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It was March 1994. The school exams had just got over and I was up early morning to watch New Zealand score a modest 142 against India. My dad joined me when India was about to bat, and surprisingly we saw Sachin Tendulkar walk out with Ajay Jadeja to open the innings. The next hour and a half marked a key milestone for the 1990s Indian cricket. By the time Matthew Hart got Sachin out c&b for 82 off 49 deliveries in the chase, several fence-sitting Indian fans were finally convinced they had found the right guy to invest their cricketing equity in.
As Sachin walked off the ground, my dad told me it was good I got his autograph already, for it may be impossible to ever get so close to him. He enquired if I had kept my autograph book safely, which of course I had.
An older generation had gotten over the SMG retirement completely. Another generation believed fully in the legend of a world class player.
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It was March 2010. I had come back in the wee hours of morning after watching Sachin and Harbhajan Singh sink Deccan Chargers at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. I was rudely woken up, all bleary eyed, by my daughter.
She had watched parts of the IPL game hoping her dad will be live on television. While that hope represented the audacity of childhood, she managed to see some of Sachin's batting. She wanted me to explain why I had not taken her to the stadium. "I wanted to see Sachin. Promise me you will take me to a cricket match when he plays in Pune" As I opened my eyes, I realized she was wearing my Mumbai Indians jersey, which I had barely managed to get out of before collapsing in the bed a few hours earlier.
The years had rolled by. A third generation now knew Sachin Tendulkar. A third generation now believed in the legend of a cricketing legend.
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For many days, I marveled over the love, affection and faith, which three generations of my household had put in Sachin Tendulkar. Surely my household was not unique. Millions of other households in the country probably had the same experience over time. But importantly, I represent that intermediate link, the generation which was the first to drink the Kool Aid.
The cricketing upbringing for my generation was modest. Yes, many of us have vague memories of the ODI successes during the 1983-85 period. But mostly, the cricketing stories involved humiliation. At home, when West Indies or England or Pakistan visited. Or away, when we went to West Indies or Pakistan or Australia. There were the scars from Sharjah. There were also the turf wars between the two stalwarts SMG and Kapil. It was humiliation, because each defeat was rinse-repeat outclassed, overshadowed, and bulldozed. Individual moments of brilliance used to come and go away, but there was no sustainable sense of pride for long time periods. As SMG retired and Kapil started to fade, even the individual moments felt like far and few between.
And then came in Sachin.
It wasn't like his arrival coincided with the general upliftment of India's cricket skills. For years together, he was the lone warrior. The team composition continued to surprise even the most devoted of the fans. Cricketers unheard of continued to walk in and out of the national team for years. Only 9-10 years in his international career, India got a team which started to gel and show a result orientation which was so sorely missing for many years at a stretch.
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So the fascination which my generation held, and I presume still does, with Sachin's cricket was principally qualitative. We wanted to win, but we knew that it was largely not possible to win the matches or the occasions we yearned for. The Indian cricket meandered aimlessly in the jungles of international cricket like an adventurer losing way in an expedition. We had a torch, a guiding light, but while it was necessary to have one for any hope of coming out of that situation, it was seldom sufficient.
It was always about searching for positives, whatever the results, and the positives almost always involved Sachin. The opposition was wary of him. His wicket was like the Gateway of India starting where the opposition made inroads. His presence was a psychological boost, a calming down factor, a beacon of hope. Across formats, across countries, across grounds, the chants of SA-CHIN, SACHIN reverberated as a genuine emotional investment in a personal belief.
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Eventually, a Jacques Kallis will score more test centuries than Sachin. Or if he does not, Alastair Cook may do so. Even if he does not, he may end up with more test runs than Sachin. There will be many players who will have talent, character, charm and luck some may have one or more qualities in greater proportion than what Sachin did. This is exactly how evolution works. There may however not be another cricketer, who captures the imagination of multiple generations at one go like Sachin did.
I am sure for me, there will be new cricketing associations. There will be several cricketers of whose success, life and times, I will be a part of. There may however be no one else, who will be a part of me.
In Sachin, I believed.
http://www.thesightscreen.com/post-m...ns/i-believed/